Back to Bangkok

25^th – 28^th February 2016

Mekong River Border Crossing

I crossed the border from Laos into Thailand late on Thursday afternoon. I still had an hour before I boarded the overnight train back to Bangkok so I went in search of some dinner. There were a couple of local places opposite the station with the tiny plastic chairs and tables meant for children where I managed to order a Chicken Fried Rice.

I got chatting to a French couple who were on their way into Laos and were waiting for the train that I had just come on to go back. I swapped my remaining Laos Kip for some of their Thai Baht as its impossible to change it anywhere outside of Laos and they didn't have any yet. I had over 100,000 left which sounds a lot but its only $20 Aussie dollars or £10. I told them a couple places that I liked and recommended and then it was time for me to go find my bed on the train.

This was the fourth time on a sleeper train in Thailand so I was pretty used to them by now. Nothing new to be said about this journey.

I arrived in Bangkok very early the next morning a caught a tuk-tuk to the familiar area of Koh Son Rd. Yep, that place again. I would be joined by Katie who I had worked with in Karratha. I was keen for a night out as it had been a while and this is a good spot for it. She wouldn’t be joining me until the next day so on this day I did a whole bunch of nothing, more or less. I slept on a small sofa in the hostel lobby whilst I waited for the check in time, I dropped my washing off in the afternoon and I had dinner at my favourite place on Rambruttri Street.

Meeting an old friend

Katie arrived the next day. We caught up on the things we had done since Karratha. She was still there when I left so she updated me on the gossip and we had a good old moan about the place just like we used to when we were sat outside the staff house. I found myself missing the place but I think it was more that I was just missing being settled and knowing people for more than a couple of weeks.

We sorted out some US dollars and I collected my washing and then we went out to Golf Bar. It didn’t disappoint but I think I drank a little too much. I must have been a student the last time I was sick in my bed! It was only a little bit, though. Most of it came out on the stairs on the way to the bathroom! Yeah, it was pretty horrendous and the hangover the next day was possibly the worst I have EVER had. But its not like we had anything big to do the next day. Just a flight to catch! Ugh.

We had a bit of a nightmare getting to the airport. We left the hostel with plenty of time for us to catch the metro to a different part of the city where we could catch the airport shuttle. We were sat at the station waiting for the shuttle when I suddenly realised we were heading to the wrong airport! There are two airports in Bangkok but I assumed the other was quite small and not used that much given that there isn’t much in the way of public transport to get there like the one we were heading to.

We had a slight panic and flagged down a taxi that took us to the correct airport. There was a bit of traffic so we were watching the clock quite a bit. This was not helped by the fact that I have never tried so hard not to be sick in my life! In the end we still had a bit of time to get through check in and get some food before our flight. That made me feel a little better but not much.

Next stop, Myanmar.

Laos: Fun and Food Poisoning

14^th – 25^th February 2016

Kuang Si Falls

On the first day in Luang Prabang in Laos Daimi and I booked joined an organised tour group that was going to Kuang Si Waterfalls. The group we were with were the kind of tourist that had come to Laos to party. They had brought beer and speakers so, once we arrived, we ditched them and went off on our own.

Beautiful Place

Can't see the tourist behind me

This was one of the most beautiful sites I’ve seen in SE Asia. There was a cascade of waterfalls all following down into stunning blue pools. It was really hot and the water was freezing so we really wanted to get in. We decided to walk up to the top and explore first and then cool off.

Awesomeness

Unfortunately, like most tourist photos you don’t see the army of people around you getting in your way with massive selfie sticks. It was still the Chinese holidays so I think there were a lot of them there. There were also a lot of other westerners that had brought alcohol and were playing music loud. This was mostly down at the lowest and biggest pool where people were taking it in turns to jump of a big rock into the pool. It really took away from the wonder of the place

This place is actually real

The big falls

Further up there was less people and it was a bit more peaceful. I’m not sure why because this was the best site. I thought it was just the cascading waterfalls, and clearly other people do too but there is a massive set of falls at the top which looked incredible. Almost too good to be believed.

Stairs next to the waterfall

Wetlands at the top

We found a set of stairs that ran up the side of a smaller waterfall that took us to the top of the big waterfalls. Up there we found more pools. I thought it would be a simple river but it was almost like wetlands and there were bamboo bridges taking you on a path to the other side.

Daimi on the dodgy bridge

Long way down

Holding on

We had some fun up here walking along the bamboo bridges and peering over the top of the waterfall. It had been a very steep climb to get to the top and what goes up must come down. My knees were hurting by the time we reached the bottom.

We walked back down to the ‘party area’ where we cooled off in the water. The water was freezing! It was quite hard to get in. Daimi didn’t even manage to get all the way in because the small fish kept biting her feet and she hated it. Free foot spa!

Wild bear!

OK, not wild

On the way into the waterfalls there is a small bear sanctuary. We skipped this on the way in as there was already a large crowd but we popped our heads in on the way back. It was included in the ticket. I thought the bears looked quite bored and one looked really quite fat. Maybe that’s normal.

Crashing the wedding

This is possible the most bizarre experience I’ve ever had. As our mini bus driver took us to the waterfalls we had passed a wedding. He said they would be dancing when we drove back. Someone asked if we could join them and he said yes. I thought he was joking but he wasn't.

We stopped there on the way back. Everyone jumped off the bus and walked straight in. I hung around at the back for a second while the others joined in the dancing. I felt so bad that we were crashing this couples wedding. If this happened at home they would be furious. As I stood at the back one guy did get angry but only because I wasn’t dancing. He dragged me over to the rest of the group.

Dancing

Alcohol for you, you and you

This was so weird! I joined in the dancing with the others whilst one guy poured out a mouthful of beer for everyone. They were so happy that we were there. They loved it. We coped their dance moves, they copied ours. The woman kept pushing their female friends next to the guys in our group and pushing us together.

Shaking the hips

Daimi had thrown on a sarong over the top of her bikini but kept adjusting it meaning she was momentarily flashing everyone. The women gasped and giggled. She kept doing it. In the end one of the woman found some elastic so that it wouldn’t fall down.

Wedding photo

As I said, it was all quite bizarre but brilliant. We all enjoyed ourselves and so did the wedding party. All except the bride it seems judging by this photo. We left after 20-30 minutes and let them carry on with their celebrations.

The tour had taken the whole day so there wasn’t much time left for anything else. I think Diami and I went on a burger hunt and a couple of drinks before going to our beds.

Mount Phousi

The next Daimi would be leaving around noon. I would be staying another night but she has less time than I do and wanted to crack on. We got up early for a self-made walk of the city starting with Mount Phousi.

Hell of a view

Stop!

The top of the hill

All of Luang Prabang

The monument at the top really wasn’t anything special but the view was awesome. There were 360 degree views of the whole town, the Mekong River and the mountains around.

Temple

The old king

We stopped off at the Royal Palace (now a Museum but it closes for a few hours in the middle of the day which is rather inconvenient. We wondered kind of aimlessly down to the river.

The river flowing into the Mekong

Bamboo bridge with monks

We found a bamboo bridges that crossed a smaller river next to the Mekong. It cost 5000kip to walk across which is basically nothing so we did. This creaky construction felt like it could fall down at any time. I was conscience one of the panels would give way and I would fall through.

The village

The Mekong

On the other side of the river there was a dirt road that led into village full of monks. We walked through it for a bit but there didn’t seem to be anything else to see so we went back.

The Royal Palace

At this point it was time to say goodbye once again to Daimi. It would only be for a day as I would see her in the next town. I went back the Royal Palace. Its no Buckingham Palace but I was interesting to see how the royals live in Laos. You weren’t allowed to take photos so I’m finding it hard to remember what I saw.

Another king?

One thing I’m gutted to have missed out on was the UXO Visitor Centre. Its about the unexploded bombs that litter the countryside in Laos. Its not exactly something I wanted to see but felt like it was something I needed to see in order to fully understand the history of the country. I would still get the chance to learn more about at another centre in Vientiane but this one was supposed to be better.

The culprit

I’m not one for taking pictures of food. No one wants that on their facebook feed. It just so happens that by taking this photo of a delicious looking meal, I caught the culprit red handed. This plate of edible goodness gave me food poisoning! I woke up in the middle of night a few times to deal with it and then I had to catch a 6 hour bus to Vang Vieng the next day.

Huge mountains

I had got through the worst of it overnight so I managed to hold my shit together on the bus, literally! But I did feel quite sick and it took all my focus to not throw up so I didn’t get to appreciate the stunning scenery passing by the window.

Scary mountain roads

One thing a did notice was the huge landslide that must have taken place pretty recently as they were still rebuilding the road. Some of the barriers were still hanging off the cliff which we had to drive inches away from to get through. It was a little butt clenching and that’s something I did not need.

Vang Vieng

Once I arrived in Laos I went straight to bed and didn’t move for a few hours. It had not been a pleasant day. I met Daimi in the evening and we went out for tea. I was feeling a little better after I’d eaten and decided I would take on the tubing the next day. Daimi was planning to leave after and wanted to have friends with me when I did it.

I was feeling OK in the morning so tubing was on although it was a bit of a faff getting going. I waited a while for Daimi and some others she had met at her hostel and then when we were walking to get the tubes we bumped into another guy Kevin. We had bumped into him every day since getting the boat and he wanted to join us tubing so we had to wait whilst he checked into his hostel and got changed.

Getting out tubes

At the starting point

Eventually we got going. We were taken by tuk tuk up the river to the starting point where we got given our tubes and jumped into the river. The water was pretty cold but it was a hot day so pleasant enough.

The first bar

It wasn’t long until we got to the first bar. A man on the bank through a rope out to us and towed us onto the bank. We stacked our tubes on the huge pile next to the river and went and bought ourselves a beer. There was quite a lot of people there already and a lot more drunk than we were. There was loud music and people dancing but we found ourselves a bench and chatted for a while. I found Sam and Alice who were an English couple I had spoken to at the hostel the day before.

After a few drinks we grabbed the football that was being kicked around and went onto a little field next to the bar. I’m no footballer so I was in goal. I was still as shit at it as I was in school but this time no one minded.

Cruising down the river

The bar began to empty as people realised there was a long way left to float. This time we were on the water for a bit longer but this time we had brought beers with us so we didn’t mind. It was the middle of the dry season so the river wasn’t very high. I realised this as my arse kept hitting rocks. Quite a few times there was only a couple of inches of water and I had to lie across my tune rather than sit in it so that I didn’t beach myself.

Party time

The second bar was even more lively than the first. There was a hose pipe attached to a pole just to randomly soak people whenever someone felt like it. We were told that this was the last bar so we made the most of it. There was all kinds of music. I remember doing the Macarena! I loved it!

Just coz

They brought out some fire for limbo which was just too irresistibly. I seemed to have lost the little flexibility I had but at least I didn’t get burned.

There was still a long way to go so we got back on the river. We saw all the other bars that had been ripped up when they clamped down on the tubing here. I think people used to hurt themselves which wouldn’t surprise me. There used to be as many as 27 bars before the government came in and changed everything. The only bars open now are the ones owned by the police. Figures.

We bought some more beers from a random guy on the bank. He waved us over with a sign saying ‘Beer Lao’ so we paddled over. Everyone was quite drunk by now and my arse was sore from hitting the ground so much.

We really did have a long way to go and as the sun was setting, we were getting cold and still not near the end. We spotted a tuk tuk doing pickups on the bank so we jumped in that. This must be good business for them as there were about 5 or 6 tuk tuks waiting to pick up the stragglers to meet the 6 o'clock deadline. If we were late we had to pay extra for the tubes.

Once we were back in town we all went back to our hostels to get changed and then I met Diami and our two new Dutch friends. We went for and Indian. I was feeling pretty rough aftert this as wave 2 of the food poisoning was setting it. The plan had been to go out that night but I certainly was not feeling up for it.

The next day was such a non day. I was feeling pretty rough and still not up to much because of the food poisoning. I think the tubing might not have been the best idea. I seemed to have handed the batten on though as Daimi was now also ill from food poisoning. She had got it from the Indian place the night before. I think they rushed to cook it because they seemed to forget about her food and she had to ask for it.

The hostel where Daimi was staying had a little restaurant out the front with these rugs that had a pillow. They are quite hard to describe but quite comfortable to lie back on and watch the TV. They had ‘Friends’ on loop. I must have watched about 10 episodes of friends that day!

Going exploring

The next day was much more productive. Diami had changed her plans to stay in Vang Vieng whilst she recovered but she wasn’t up for doing anything. There’s a lot of caves in the area and there are many tours taking you out to them. The most popular is Blue Lagoon but I didn’t fancy being herded on a tourist route today. I decided to go off into hills and explore for myself and this was much more rewarding.

Through the farms

I crossed the rived on a bamboo bridge and walked west out of town. I was following a path that I had found on my map that would take me to some caves. It was a dirt road that was barely used and took me across some farm land. This looked pretty cool against the backdrop of the big mountains.

Caves?

My map was a little vague so I thought I had arrived when I saw a man sat at a bamboo desk asking me for money. I asked him if this was the caves and he said yes. It was more like a small hole in the ground and not at all the place I wanted to see. The man must have known what I was after but unfortunately that’s how they do things in Laos. They will quite happily lie to your face to get money out of you. It makes it very hard to trust anything people are saying. Its never a lot of money but that’s not the point.

Conquered the hill

Luckily my money was completely wasted as these ‘caves’ were underneath a huge rocky mound set apart from the rest of the mountains. I climbed to the top by climbing rickety bamboo bridges and clambering over rocks. Not at all safe but I like the lack of health and safety they have here.

Epic

Amazing

The view from the top was staggering. The scenery around Vang Vieng is not to be missed. Big karst limestone towers overlooking the farmlands next to the river. I sat up there a little while taking it in. When I arrived there was a group of Americans at the top playing music loud through a speaker but when they left it became a very peaceful spot to sit at. One of the Americans left their t-shirt at the top and as much as they had annoyed me, I thought I would be the good Samaritan and take it down for him. He was grateful.

Into the jungle

Tight squeeze

I continued along the path through more farmlands and into a valley to find the caves I had been looking for. I paid another man for another ticket. If there's money to be made then they’ll find it. I also got a torch as it was pitch black inside the caves. The entrance was up a steep set of stairs and I had to squeeze through I gap in the rocks to get in.

Where the river flows in wet season

In the caves

There was no one in the cave but me and it was extremely spooky. The only sound I could hear apart from my own footsteps was the gentle echoing drips of water from somewhere in the cave. It was also pitch black. Once I was inside the cave I turned my torch off for a second to see if I could see but that only freaked me out.

The cave was quite long with many caverns to explore. There were a few wooden planks over parts where the floor had given way and I was a little concerned I would step on a rock that would fall through like some kind of trap door. There were various parts roped off so there was a little bit of health and safety but I had a feeling it had to be really bad for them to have done that. After about 20 minutes of slowly walking though the cave I decided I had gone as far as I dared. It was eerily quiet and so dark. If I wasn’t on my own I would have gone further.

Back in town I had some lunch and then had a walk around the rest of the town. I walked across the old airstrip which is now just a big lump of tarmac in the middle of town. They had a wedding here over the weekend. Weddings are a big event in Laos. The music starts blasting ear damagingly loud from 8am until the early hours and it goes on for two days. My hostel was next to it so I invested in some ear plugs!

On my last day in Vang Vieng and wandered aimlessly to another set of caves that were marked on the local map that I had. These ones weren’t on trip adviser so I didn’t expect to much. I just fancied the walk through the farmlands and forests again. This time it was a couple of girls about 10/11 years old who were asking me for money. This place really didn’t look official. Not that any of them did but this one especially just seemed to be there in case anyone wanders that way and they can charge them money.

These caves weren’t even caves. Just a few big cracks in the rock you could scramble down. I didn’t even take any pictures as they weren’t interesting. The path continued in a vague direction I wanted to go in so I thought I would follow and it and see if it would take me to some other caves I wanted to visit.

It worked and I found where I wanted to go. Just before I got there I noticed some children playing under a tree. As I past them one of them spotted me and held out his hand, “Money” he said. “No chance” I replied and carried on walking. Cheeky shit.

Watercave

Go for a swim?

I got to the official path towards the cave and suddenly there were tourist everywhere. So many Asian tourist with selfie sticks chucking peace signs. The main attraction to this place is the crystal clear pool that you can swim in. It’s at an entrance to a cave so if you’re strong enough you can swim against the current into the cave where there is supposedly a big cavern. I didn’t do this as there were far too many people there and I didn’t want to leave my bad unattended.

Suspension bridge

I crossed a big orange bridge that connected these caves to the town. I noticed that there was a pay station that I had missed by walking the long way round. I had sort of paid those to girls so I didn’t exactly feel guilty.

I met Daimi at her hostel who was feeling better and was catching the afternoon bus down to Vientiane. I said goodbye but, again, it wouldn’t be the last I saw of her as the next day, after a quite night, I also caught the bus down to Vientiane.

The bus ride was very uneventful. I barely even remember it.

I checked into my hostel and went in search of food and who should I see walking down the street, Diami! And to make this small world scenario smaller, I had noticed a bag in my room that looked remarkably similar to hers and it turns out it was! We had booked the same room in the same hostel. She was just returning from visiting the Buddha park which I never got round to seeing.

The night market

A statue of someone important

We chilled in the afternoon and then went to check out the night market next to the Mekong River. There was a lot going on at these markets. It was packed with people and the stalls were all selling the usual touristy stuff.

Cheap and very nasty

We got some food and went back to the hostel where we had been promised free vodka. It seems a thing here to give out free alcohol. Its so cheap that its just like a hostel that gives out free coffee or something. They charge a ridiculous amount for coke though. It wasn’t even vodka, it was gin! Blugh! We googled it and it turns out this is the cheapest alcohol in the world. $1 for the whole bottle. It was disgusting and we gave up on it pretty quickly. There was a group of us by this point and we decided we’d stick with the beers.

Back on the Mekong

I didn’t do a whole lot the next day. Diami was catching the overnight train that evening and this time I didn't think I would be seeing her again. She was going to the Full Moon Party in southern Thailand. We hung around the hostel playing pool with a few people until it was time for her to go.

Sunset at the river

I went for a run that evening and it was so dusty and smoky that I was coughing for the next week!

That famous guy again

The royal residence

On my last full day in Laos I went for a big walk to explore the city. Everything was more or less within walking distance. The first stop was a statue which I think is of the king because the royal palace is just behind it.

A twenty minute walk from the palace down the main highway there is the Laos answer to the Arch de Triumph. The concrete that its made from was donated by the Americans to build a new airport but they built this instead. It’s a war memorial dedicated to those who gave their lives for independence from France. I walked around it and sat by the fountain for a while before continuing.

Pha That Luang

Shiny

Another twenty minute took me to arguably the most iconic building in Laos (its on the bank notes). Pha That Luang is a huge golden stupa in the middle of the city that was originally built in the 3^rd century. They must polish it regularly because its very shiny.

Fancy building

Another lazy buddha

It was part of a larger temple complex that was quite impressive when walking around. I sat by the reclining Buddha and had my picnic lunch that I brought (cheap version of pringles).

Bombs

The last stop was a bit less fun but had much more of an impact. The COPE visitor centre is similar to the one I wanted to visit in Luang Prabang but this charity focuses on helping those that have lost limbs due to the UXO bombs. There were lots of rudimentary wooden limbs on display as well as the more recent developments. It didn’t take many pictures as I didn’t feel like it was one of those places you should be snapping away.

Next to the limb section they had various relics and signs explaining about the secret war on Laos. I also watched the documentary Bomb Harvest that explained a lot about what happened here. For the Americans to have set foot in Laos during the Vietnam War would have been a violation of international law so they just bombed the shit out of it instead. This was done to stop the trade routes from North Vietnam to its supporters, the Viet Cong, in the south.

They dropped over two million tons of ordinance on Laos, 30% of which did not explore leaving 50 million bombs unexploded in the countryside of Laos. Thousands of people have died since the war with a large portion of them being children searching for scrap metal which is big business in Laos. The UXO charity are fighting hard to destroy as many of these leftover bombs as possible. America have contributed to the clean up. Since the war they have donated an amount equal to the money spent in just two days of bombing!

Exercise time

Anyway, rant over. I walked back to my hostel. I did a lot of walking on this day. Just before I got back I walked down the river and saw the locals doing there daily exercise routine.

Goodbye Laos

Crossing the Mekong, again

That's the end of that one. Another country ticked off the list. The next day and caught a bus to the only train station in Laos which would take me across the border and back into Thailand. I mostly enjoyed my time in Laos (food poisoning, not so much). I learned a lot about the country and its history. Now it was time to explore somewhere new but first I had a couple of nights in Bangkok where I would meet Katie.